Old Torrance residents heading oppostion to Tower gas station on property along Carson Street between Grammercy and Andreo Avenues. from left, Julie Hirtzel, Heather Elder and Nancy Kacius. Photo by Robert Casillas, Daily Breeze/SCNG

A proposed blocklong $7 million gas station and convenience store in Old Torrance has generated more opposition from local residents than virtually any other issue to come before the City Council in years, according to municipal officials.

The project, proposed for the south side of Carson Street, was appealed to the City Council after it was narrowly approved by the Planning Commission. Commissioner Richard Tsao changed his vote at the last moment to push it over the top, breaking a tie vote on the six-member panel that would have doomed the project.

Opponents say that the project, proposed by Torrance-based Tower Energy Group, not only would be the largest gas station in the city, but it would be the only one to lie between two narrow residential streets that have no traffic signals.

Opponents of a proposed gas station and convenience store on Carson Street in Old Torrance say it will not only be the largest in the city, but will occupy an entire block that has no signals.<br />Source: Torrance Residents for Responsible Development

And it would sit in the heart of the oldest part of the community, where city officials are trying to establish a historic district that would ensure the preservation of historic homes.

“The project borders on a historic neighborhood with 100-plus-year-old homes,” Beryle Fobes wrote to city officials in opposition to the project. “The effect on quality of life in the quiet neighborhood will be negative and significant. The narrow streets in the Workers District south of Carson Street now allow only a single lane of traffic; there is no room for more cars and trucks.

Tower officials say a traffic study concluded there would be little impact on the neighborhood; residents don’t believe it.

The five separate parcels totaling 38,500-square-feet are currently occupied by an aging former beauty college, three single family homes and a mixed use building with a liquor store and a half-dozen apartment units above it. All would be demolished to make way for the gas station.

Two of the homes are listed as contributing structures to the area’s historic resources, but because they are sit on land zoned commercial are afforded no protection.

Tower officials contend the redevelopment will improve the “blighted” property; residents counter it is incompatible with the surrounding neighborhood and mixed-use retail and residential is far more appropriate, which is what occupies part of the site today.

“We have seen marginal development in the downtown Torrance area with closed storefronts and few thriving businesses,” Tower said in response to the appeal. “An overrule of the Planning Department’s recommendation and the Planning Commission’s approval would have a chilling negative impact on downtown properties and future development.”

The gas station, which would include a convenience store selling fried chicken, beer and wine, would operate daily from 5 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. and attract an estimated 977 cars a day. That’s on a stretch of oft-clogged Carson between Plaza del Amo and Western Avenue during rush hour that makes left turns a challenge.

Opponents also say the gas station and convenience store is simply unnecessary.

Within one mile of the site are nine gas stations, 10 grocery or convenience stores and 24 places to buy beer or wine, noted one of the residents who filed the appeal.

The opposition appears to have caught the attention of Tower executives.

They requested last week that the appeal be delayed until the new year, without citing a reason. Residents disagreed and asked that the appeal be heard as scheduled.

City officials like to cultivate and tout Torrance’s business-friendly reputation, but residents say that often comes at their expense and regard this as another prime example.

Tsao, for example, offered only that he too was a business person, which is why he cast a vote in favor of the project, much to the dismay of dozens of opponents.

The company behind the development generates more than $5 billion in annual revenue via wholesale gasoline sales to other companies in 34 states, as well as owning and operating a string of 60 gas stations and convenience stores branded as Tower Market. It employs more than 150 people at its Torrance headquarters, according to a business profile on the website Buzzfile.

Officials with Tower Energy did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Many communities have adopted ordinances or guidelines that require a separation of 175 feet or more between residences and gas stations, where thousands of gallons of flammable gasoline are stored on-site.

Torrance apparently does not, which prompted planners to express reservations about the project’s proximity to homes, although that wasn’t enough to derail it.

So, if approved, Tower will build its gas station just 30 feet from the Gramercy Street home of Julie Hirtzel. The second-floor bedroom of Hirtzel’s 16-year-old daughter will look over the tall, gas vents that will be installed.

Hirtzel, a breast cancer survivor whose mother died from the disease and worries about exposure to gasoline, plans to move out and sell the home she bought in 1996 for $144,000 and is now worth an estimated $825,000.

Not that she expects to get that much if she sells; a real estate agent who specializes in Old Torrance estimates property values could drop as much as 25 percent.

Hirtzel had a suggestion for Tower owners John and Twanna Rogers, who live in affluent Palos Verdes Estates, a community with just one gas station.

“It was billed as a gift to Torrance because (the owner) was born in Torrance,” she said. “It would be nice if they gifted it to where they live.”

Nick Green is the longtime soccer columnist for the Southern California Newspaper Group and covers Torrance, Lomita and the craft beer industry for the Daily Breeze. He also blogs about soccer at www.insidesocal.com/soccer, the local craft beer scene at www.insidesocal.com/beer and the South Bay at blogs.dailybreeze.com/southbay/. The native of England lives in Old Torrance with his wife and two cats.

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